coping
Life presents variables; learning how to cope in order to master, minimize, or tolerate what has come to pass.
Letters Pt. III
Day 26 Tonight I’m going to a 40th birthday party, alone. It’ll be my first I’ve attended sober in nearly 15 years. I’ve been blindingly drunk at pub crawls, birthday bashes, house parties, restaurants, and joyous, daytime family gatherings (made not so-joyous by a stumbling, slurring alcoholic sneaking refills from the cupboards of not-my-kitchen, and vomiting on the kids’ trampoline… with the kids still on it). I’ve decorated floors, tables, cushions, and bathrooms with puke. I’ve fallen over, broken things that don’t belong to me and had arguments. Catastrophic ones.
By burnafterdrinking5 years ago in Psyche
Why was I so obsessed with horror as a young child?
I remember watching my first horror movie when I was somewhere between 7 and 8 years old; it was very late and I just stumbled upon a movie called "The Grudge". While I covered my eyes for most of the scary moments, I could not help but watch. I was hooked! I am almost certain my mom was asleep during the time I watched it, so it was no fault of her parenting that I ended up watching a very scary movie late at night, I was just a sneaky and curious kid.
By Dovile Miliauskaite5 years ago in Psyche
LSD, Childhood Memories, And The Science Of Nostalgia
The weather forecast was gloomy, and the sky a dishwater gray. Not what many psychedelic users would consider good conditions for a trip, but something about it felt right. I grabbed a tiny glass vial out of the fridge and carefully siphoned out a small but solid dose, then waited nervously. Although LSD has never made me feel any genuinely negative feelings, I usually can’t say the same about the first hour long wait to feel something. But this time, the onset was remarkably free of anxiety. Long before the first effects made their appearance, I had a strong feeling that it would be a particularly special trip.
By Psychedelics are Medicine 5 years ago in Psyche
Suicide Watch
When I was 15 years old I tried to smother myself with a pillow. Not the best way to attempt suicide. In hindsight I realize that all that would have happened would be that I would pass out, relax my grip on the pillow and begin to breathe. I suppose I should have used a dry -cleaning bag instead. Now I am very glad I didn’t.
By Traci E. Langston5 years ago in Psyche
Stuck in the Grey
My eyes are clenched tight, whether it is to block something out or to search inside, I cannot tell. It feels like I’m trying to find a reason that doesn’t exist in a haystack of steel colored, gray nothingness. The nothingness is closest akin to a dense fog and has mottled striations of black and dark grey; they blend together, tumbling without moving, moving without movement. There is a glass-like reminiscence to the fog. It’s impenetrable, and at the same time, the desire to go into it conflicts with the energetic resistance it radiates. I feel like the answer that will allow for peace and freedom is in that grey mottled, molasses-like chaos. It won’t let me go into it, so I take a different approach and breathe deep with the hope that my deep breaths might shift the fog to yield some insight or perhaps to make the density of the fog dissipate.
By Linden Griffith5 years ago in Psyche
Volcano Child
When I was a little girl, my 2nd grade teacher told my mom that I have a tantrum worse than a toddler’s. My mom - angry and embarrassed- told her that she’s going to straighten me out. Did she take me to therapy? No, but let’s just say there’s a belt with my name on it. This method worked for my older sister so it should work for me, right? Not exactly and the crazy thing is I still remember that day as if it happened yesterday. The pain I felt after the spanking and the lesson I learned: my feelings don’t matter.
By Linda Serrano5 years ago in Psyche
My Mental Health Needs Water to Survive
Up here, my anxiety has gotten worse in the past year or so. To the point where I’m thinking I might need to go back to therapy. I feel I’m becoming unhealthy at the edges again. I’m afraid almost more than I’m not. That’s all up here.
By Catherine Kenwell5 years ago in Psyche
